Ship-repair apparatus.



E Mum n m m @m m a? .m in! m J. H. .REINHARDT. I SHIP REPAIR APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28 1906 witwcoo/eo v m UNITED sT 'rns JAMES H. REINHARDT, or EATS'LORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

SHIP-REPAIR; APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 28, 1906. Serial No. 323,955.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. REINHARD a citizen of the United States, and resident of East Orange, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ship-Repair Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The objectof my invention is to provide an apparatus or mechanism by means of which portions ofa vessel or ship canbe repaired while the ship is afloat and without requiring it to be placed: in a dry dock.

In carrying out my invention I provide a casing having one side open and adapted to fit against the exterior of the hull of a ship or other Vessel, and upon opposite sides or walls of said casing I attach flexible bands or pockets adapted to be pressed against the hull of the vessel, and within said bands or pockets I provide series of magnets orsolenoids that are adapted by magnetic action, when the electric current is passed through the same, tooling to the metal hull and thereby serve the x double purpose of assisting to hold the" casing against the vessel and at the same time force the band or pocket wall against the vessel to make water tight joints thereat, and to further assist in making water tight joints between the casing and" the hull I may provide expansible tubes adapted to contain air under pressure and which bear against the band, so that when inflated with air said tubes will force the band against the hull of the vessel. 1

My invention also comprises the novel details of improvement and combinations'of parts that will be more fully hereinafter set forth and then pointed outin the claims.

Reference is tobe" had to the accompanying drawings forming parthereof, wherein,

Figure 1 is alplan view illustrating the application of my improvements to a vessel, Fig. 2 is an end view thereof, partly broken, Fig. 3 is an enlargeddetafl plan view of a portion of Fig. 1, and Fig. 't'is adetail sectional view, enlarged, taken on the line 45, 4,

in Fig. 1. v I v The numeral 1. indicates, generally, a case ing or partial caisson which isshown substantially in channel or hollow form, having one side open adapted to fit against a portion ofthe hull of a ship, boat or other vessel, whereby to permit access to the hull of the vessel from the interior of said casing;

The casing 1 on the inner edges of its side walls will conform as nearly as may be to the contour of the hull of the vessel, either completely around the hull below the water line and for any suitable distance above the same, or partially around the lower portion of the vessel, the upper portion of the casing extending above the water line. In order to provide water tight joints between the'hull of the ves's'el2 and the casing 1, I 7 provide flexible bands or pockets 3 along the outer side walls 1 of the casing, which pocketsmay be made of rubber and may be secured to the walls of the casing by rivets or bolts, so as to-lie against the hull ofthe vessel. Within the pockets 3 are series of magnets 4 located at suitable distances apart,1but'preferably close together, the pole pieces of which magnets lieagainst the inner walls 3 of the pockets 3 and face the hull of the vessel, and I also, by prefer- .magnets or solenoids 5 which are shownsecured'close tothe walls 1 of the casing 1. In order to assist in placing the casing 1 and "its magnets 41 in position, I have shown vided with holes 4 through which ropes 6 pass, andwhich ropes also pass under the hull of the vessel, and may be fastened at opposite ends to the deck, as by cleats 8, so

fastened the magnets and the flexible pocket 3 aswell as casing 1 will beheld close to the hull of the vessel. When the electric currentis passed through the magnets or solenoids the magnetic attraction at the nets to forcibly be held against the metal hull ofthe vessel, and thus the inner walls 3? of pockets 3 will be firmly pressed against the vessel hull to provide water tight joints thereat. The current for the magnets 4 may be supplied from any suitable source of electric power. In order to assure the action of the magnets or solenoids during. use, the electric current may be supplied from two separate sources simultaneously, so that if one current should cease i the other will continue.

In order to preventleakage of water into the casing 1 at the parts of the pockets 3 lying between the pole pieces or cores of the adjacent magnets or solenoids I provide one or more flexible pneumatic pipes or tubes 7 which pass through the pockets 8 Patented Aug. 3 1, 1909.

poles orcores thereof will cause the mag- Z ence, provide withinthe pockets 3 series of I the pole'pi'eces 4 of the magnets as pro that [when the ropes are drawn tight and i and lie against walls 3 thereof, being shown located between the magnets 45 and'the walls e 3?, which tubes 7 when expanded by a Pn umatic pressure Wlll swell out agalnst the walls 8* being resisted by the magnets l, which act as abutments, and forcibly press the walls 3 -against the vessel hull to make water tight joints all around pockets 3 against the hull. The pneumatic tubes or pipes 7 may be provided with valves in any Well kn wn manne f r e ainingair pr ssure there mand may be pumpedto the de- SllTQ i l p ess e by any suitable means.

1 "As the Casing l is open on the side that is applied to a vessel hull it would sink when being towed to position at the vessel, or when lowered adjacent thereto, and in ord r tio ause he ca ing to float it may, if

j preferre'chbe provided with one or more suitable air-tight compartments 9 (see Fig. 2) on'its exterior, of such capacity when exhausted fromwater as to cause casing 1 to float. Said compartments 9 may be pro- 1 vided with suitable pipes 1 0, whichmay be above the water line, and by means of which Wa r can b admitted to o mpt e "from 7 aide mpartin nts as req ired, by any suitable. Pump or o her mea lni pply ng iny mprov ments to a vessel L he ea g may b sunk b neaththe part of thelve'ssel to be repaired, and then raised aga nst the hull by pumpingthe water out .Qfoompartments 3 when the latter are used,

t o bym ans 7f the'r pe or in any other aid rapes b pass d th ough he agne r lenoids su tab e mann r, and held in position by The electric current will then wh h by magnetic attraction will cling to th metal h l nd press h walls 3 of the pock ts?) against thehull, and the current will be m intained flowing during use of the apparatu th aai pipes? will'thefn be inflated'to complete the water tight joints all around the casing against the hull. 'The xea n,

1 will then be emptied of'the contame; water, by pumping the same out of he sing, leaving" the hull exposed to'the 'iriteriorof the casing, The workmen may then'safely enter the "casing and make. such "repairs as'may be required, and thereafter 7 sizes asflrequired, and, the; width of the cas ing may be such as to. accommodate more or less area lengthwise of the vessel as desired, and difierent casings may be provided to accommodate difierent portions of the vessel hull. The flexible pockets 3; and the mag- V7' willfpllow the general contour oi the' hull in around and beneath the same, so that water tight joints between the hull and the casing may be assured.

By having the pockets 3, the magnets, and the pipes 7 on the exterior of casing 1, the interior of the casing is left free and unobstructed for the use of the workmen therein, and they may stand upon any suitable supports provided within the casing in any Having now described my invention what I claim is:

1. A ship repair apparatus comprising a casing adapted to fit against a vessel hull, flexible bands carried by the casing adapted to bear against the hull, and magnets within the bands adapted to press the latter against the hull by magnetic attraction.

2. A ship repair apparatus comprising a casing adapted to fit against a vessel hull, flexible bands carried by the casing adapted to bear against the hull, magnets within the bands adapted to press the later against the hull by magnetic attraction, and flexible supports for the magnets to hold them against the hull.

3. A ship repair apparatus comprising a casing adapted to fit against a vessel hull, flexible bands carried by the casing adapted to bear against the hull, magnets within the bands adapted to press the latter against the hull by magnetic attraction, and expansible pipes around the bands adapted to press the latter against the hull.

4:. A ship repair apparatus comprising a casingadapted to fit against a vessel hull, flexible bands carried by the casing adapted to bear against the hull, magnets within the bands adapted to press the latter against the hull by magnetic attraction, and expansible pipes around the bands adapted to press the latter against the hull, said pipes lying between the magnets and the bands.

5. A ship repair apparatus comprising a casing adapted to fit against a vessel hull,

I flexible bands carried by the casing adapted 5 to. bear against the hull, expansible pipes T around the bands adapted to press the latter against the hull, and abutments without the V 1 pipes to resist the expansion of the latter. nets or v solenoids 4, which are'flexibly sup- V ported by the ropes 6, and the flexible pipes 6; A ship repair apparatus comprising a casmg having one s1 e open adapted to fit against a vessel hull, flexible pockets com nected with said casingand adapted to fit against the hull, and magnets within said pockets adapted to adhere to the vessel and press the walls of the pockets against the hull.

7. A ship repair apparatus comprising a casing having one side open adapted to fit against a vessel hull, flexible pockets connected with said casing and adapted to fit against the hull, magnets within said pockets adapted to adhere to the vessel and press the walls of the pockets against the hull, and flexible supports passing through the pockets for holding the magnets against the hull.

8. A ship repair apparatus comprising a casing having one side open adapted to fit against a vessel hull, flexible pockets connected with said casing and adapted to fit against the hull, magnets within said pockets adapted to adhere to the vessel and press the walls of the pockets against the hull, and expansible pipes passing through the pockets and bearing against the inner walls of the pockets to press the same against the hull.

9. In a ship repair apparatus a hollow flexible pocket having a flexible, continuous, integral wall adapted to fit against a vessel hull, and magnets within said pocket adapted to press said flexible wall against said hull to make water-tight connection there- With.

10. In a ship repair apparatus a hollow flexible pocket adapted to fit against a vessel hull, and magnets within said pocket adapted to press the latter against said hull to make water-tight connection therewith, and flexible pipes passing along the magnets to bear upon the hull.

11. A ship repair apparatus comprising a casing adapted to fit against a vessel hull, magnets connected with the casing and adapted to adhere to the vessel hull by magnetic attraction and flexible packing in front oi the magnets to make water tight joints between the casing and a vessel hull.

12. A ship repair apparatus comprising a casing adapted to fit against a vessel hull,

magnets connected with the casing and adapted to adhere to the vessel hull by mag netic attraction, means to flexibly connect said magnets with said casing, and means to make water tight joints between the casing and a vessel hull.

JAMES H. 'REINHARDT.

iWitnesses:

T. F. BOURNE, L. SWINTON. 

